Real Life stories

I will try and paraphrase something that Tohei Akira sensei once said:

On the mats, or outside, one should try and achieve harmony. In the dojo,
we hope there are no crazies so we should not act crazy. Outside is
another matter. There are many crazies out there and we should harmonize
with them also. In the street, use street technique. If the person is a
little crazy, you should also be a little crazy.

Reminds me of a time I was working on the Trans-Canada Pipeline. I was in
a small town after work having my first beer of the day (or was it my
third?). A motorcycle gang on its way through burst into the bar (it was
a one-bar town) in which I was the only patron. As they came over to me,
I invited them to sit down and have a couple beers on me (I was being paid
very well just having finished about 50 hours of overtime that week).
Since I am a cycle fancier, I got on very well with them discussing the
pros and cons of my Triumph semi-chopped 500cc as well as their hogs. The
evening passed by quickly and entertainingly.

A few days later, I was again in the bar when a couple local rednecks
decided to come over an give me a tough time. Just then the cycle gang
drove up and came in. After finding out the situation, I got to watch to
two rednecks and their pickup get trashed and sent on their way. The bar
keep and I had a good laugh and bought the gang a round of beers each for
the good entertainment.

The point is, harmony with an aggressive person (the cycle gang) can be
enjoyable and quite useful later on. I figure I was able to trash to two
rednecks without touching them *ha-ha*!!!

On the other hand, if an assailant is shooting at me, I would probably
shoot back in harmony.

Talking about people who don't believe that Aikido "Works", I was
reminded about a situation that happened in the dojo where I used to
train in London.

Eric, a London cab driver (and Aikido instructor) was teaching the
class. Three Karate Sandan arrived and wanted to participate. They had
just joined the dojo.

Eric was teaching Kotegaeshi, and wanted someone to attack him nice
and fast (for some reason or other!). So, seeing as how there were
some Karate people on the mat, he chose one of the Sandans! This guy
was big, I mean really big... I mean you may think it's a long way
down the street to the chemist, but that's just peanuts to... Oh,
sorry, wrong book!

Anyway, Eric said that these words suddenly went through his mind
"Christ! Why did I pick him?!". This man had tree trunks for wrists!
Anyway, the sandan attacked at lightening speed. Eric turned Tenkan,
barely touched the Karateka's wrist, and, *whoosh*... no more
karateka! Unfortunately, the Karate Sandan hadn't learned much ukemi
and so was a little "confused" upon landing. Eric was as pleased as
punch (eek! sorry!), and the other Karateka thought it was great!!

Remarkable how often that happens! It's even better when they stay.
We got a guy, Michael, who's a prison guard. He's 5'8" and barely fits into a
size 5 gi; but not an ounce of fat. He had to cut the sleeves off at the elbow,
as the fabric was so tight he couldn't raise his arms. I believe he eats
radiators. When they move terrorist prisoners, he gets to ride with them. When
they need to remove a psychopath from a cell, in goes Michael (sideways through
the cell door, I imagine.) Even so, a sweeter guy you'll never meet. Every few
days, Mike comes up to me and says, "Ya know the thing you showed me Monday?
Boy does that work!" I groan and ask, "What did you do now!" "Nothing! I never
touched the guy, but he hit the wall and dropped the shiv." Whenever I use him
for the demonstration, he lies on the mat muttering, "Bad criminal! Bad
criminal!"

Nikkyo, he says, works really well when a murderer, who is lying on his bunk,
starts to rise up and go for your throat. (He didn't do the formal pin, as he
hadn't learned it yet, so he sat on the guy.)

Tenkan works when you're standing between two prisoners and the one tries to
brain you with a broomhandle from behind and all you notice is the look in the
eyes of the one in front of you. Number 2 bonks number 1 instead of Mike, who
said he could barely suppress a giggle.

He says that Aikido is much harder to do in class. People in the dojo don't
really attack. Even the strongest attack is still a bit fake. With a real,
all out attack, with a guy who gets brownie points if he can take out
a guard, Aikido really works. "And I don't even have to take them to the
infirmary!"

Back in the early seventies, there was an Aikidoka of oriental original
married to a southern girl. She was the first in her family who married to a
person of different race. The family is by no mean racist, but they have
never 'dealt' with oriental before and never really accepted the son in law
into their family.

During a christmas party, a local youth who was the wife's ex boy friend
started to flirt with her. She was very uncomfortable and sensei
asked him to stop. Words exchanged and the youth pushed the 'our' Aikidoka.
According to him, he simply performed a sankyo, seeing the youth's two friends
were also coming, he changed into sankyo tenkan thus tripped the two. Within
seconds, the three youths were on the floor, and the families stopped the
fight.

The next moring, at the breakfast table, the father in law (only heard of
the story, he wasn't at the party) asked sensei

What was that stuff that you did last night ? Japanese Karate chops or
something ?

No dad, actually it is American.

Hmm, what's called ?

It's called 'beat the crap out of anyone who touches my wife'.

There were laughters at the table, and he felt comfortable with the family
for the first time.

Toyoda sensei was attacked while driving. A man came up and stuck a
knife into his partially opened window to threaten him. He relaxed
completely, kept one-point, kept weight underside, extended ki, rolled up
the electric window on uke's arm, and drove down the street.

A friend of mine was knife-shopping, and we were at the only place
around here that carries bokken, so Aikido came up. And the lethal
little old knife shop lady passed this along (between snippets about the
vicious hardware she hawks)...

An Aikido-trained EMT in a local emergency room is the guy they
pretty much rely on for the occassional subdual of obnoxious and/pr
crazed folks. So this guy pulls a knife on him in the E.R. and holds it
up in what the guy considers a threatening position...

The Aikidoka regards him dispassionately and continues conversing
with him. Meanwhile, his co-workers begin to gather around - but not
in the usual "Code One" manner, not preparing to rush the knife guy or
anything: they're just spectating, interestedly.

A few of them start to snigger. There's an occassional chortle.
And the guy with the knife begins to look very worried...

The Aikidoka's hands stay at his side, and he raises his eyebrows at
the eager crowd...

The other gentleman decides to surrender the knife rather than find
out what everybody's so gleeful about.

I have dealt with many situations that you seek "real life"
scenario's with. Fortunately many of the defensive tactics techniques
that police are taught come from Aikido/Aiki-jitsu. Aside from the fact
that I have other tools at my disposal for making an arrest, our policy
in the escalation of force specifically states that I will use hands
early on in the confrontation. It may only be for a moment and just long
enough for light passive control (mind you the Use of Force Continuum is
much more complex than I am getting into here). I have successfully used
kotegaish and ikkyo. I have even had the opportunity to use a sankyo pin
on a man that had alluded us in the woods. As I came into the clearing
with another officer I stepped on him; he was hiding on the ground (not a
very smart individual). He was laying on his arms and refused to obey our
commands to take each one out slowly - we though he was armed (gun, that
is). It was late at night and as he made a sudden move upward, I
instinctively scooped his left arm and dropped to seiza (activated) to
apply a very effective sankyo pin. I have been an Aikido student for
quite some time but the guys I work with still call it "Tae-Kwan-Leap" -
they haven't the faintest of what its about; you can only imagine (1) the
surprise on their faces that the pin worked, and (2)the harrassment I got
(and still get) to this day.

I work with several other individuals who have black belts in other
martial arts. The styles they have chosen are very street effective and
devastatingly brutal. They don't understand Aikido, or allow their minds
to open to what it offers. They measure everything by street
effectiveness. Aikido IS STREET EFFECTIVE. Everytime I successfully
manage conflict out there I am using Aikido. Terry Dobson taught me that.
And, Aikido can be street practical. You may not always throw an atemi at
your uke, but that doesn't mean you aren't thinking about it. On the
street, the same techniques open the same atemi's - the choice may be a
little clearer as to whether or not we throw it.

I am not sure you can equate Aikido and self-defense nor can you say it is
not equatable. A self-defense maxim which works for me is: "Do what is
quickest, easiest, and most effective." This is not as easy as saying it
since we must consider long-term as well as short-term effects of selfdefense
behavior. Buying a pistol for self-defense may appear to be the
quickest solution, but being able to use it easily and having the mental
attitude to use it effectively may be a problem for some. Beating the crap
out of someone may have a very detrimental effect on your self-defense if that
person has a lot of big and nasty friends that are very loyal to the crapee.

Complex systems of self-defense like Aikido may not be the quickest nor the
easiest defense mechanism to use but that is where the training comes in. Like
driving a car which is very complex and not that easy (remember your first days
in the car?) training can make the reactions and decisions become second
nature. After sufficient training in even very complex martial or social arts
may make the actions come very easily and quickly so that the techniques from
that martial or social art become the quickest, easiest and most effective
solution FOR THAT INDIVIDUAL. I know a guy that can slip out of doing extra
work without thinking about how to do it. The guy is an artist at some of the
ways he gets out of extra work. For many others, the elaborate lengths this
person goes into (like wearing a cast on his arm to work when there was nothing
wrong with his arm--he keeps plaster and bandages at home) to get out of extra
work--or work period--would probably make our heads whirl. However, for this
guy, doing these little things is second nature.

Another little story I remember hearing was about high ranking calligraphy
teacher that lived in Japan during some of the more turbulent times. As he
was working on a scroll, a person attacked him with a sword with the intent
to kill. The teacher deftly dispatched the attacker with the brush he was
holding by painting some character on the guy's face with the brush ending
up in the guy's eye--instant frontal lobotomy. According to legends, the
character was like the character for death or something. The point of the
story, though, is that the teacher responded with something totally within
character. He did what was simplest, quickest, and most effective--for him.

The point of this whole letter is that Aikido can be the simplest, quickest,
and most effective, just as anything can be with enough training. For
different people with different characteristics, what that good response is
will depend on that individual's training and background, as well as the
very specific situation that the conflict takes place under.

I didn't mean to say that it would take years to get proficient in selfdefense
using Aikido techniques. I don't think so. I separate the idea
of doing Aikido-style techniques and doing Aikido -- aikijutsu and Aikido
I guess. I just mean that usually doing whatever comes natural is often
the quickest, simplest and most effective--yet we have allowed many of our
"trained" behaviors to take over our reactions so that we don't do the
simplest, quickest, nor most effective. It is very much like how, as we
grow through childhood, we lose that ability to work at physical activities
without utilizing too much muscle power (my daughter's Aikido is getting
crappier as she grows older since she is learning to use her muscles more).

When my daughter was around 4 she did her techniques completely with
technique since she didn't have any muscle to use against me. Now that
she is older, and more muscular, she tries to use that muscle and it works
against her. When she was doing her techniques naturally, she was much
more effective.

Aikido works on the basis of a lot of natural movements (at least natural
for Japanese). If these same movements are natural for someone and that
person was to use a natualistic Aikido movement in a defensive situation,
I am sure the technique would remain quite effective. In that sense, it
would probably have fit my requirement of it being the simplest, quickest,
and most effective.

There was a story about a buddy of mine who is now Chief of Police at a
Texas university. His officers were trying to deal with a big drunken ugly
that had already trashed a couple officers when he drove up. The Chief
confronted the guy and the ugly rushed him. The Chief isn't known for being
an extremely athletic guy since he had his neck broken during FBI training.
Everyone expected the Chief to be knocked on his keaster since it happened
so fast. However, the Chief moved offline and did a tenkai-based ikkyo
that he learned in the FBI school many years before--slammed the ugly into
the side of his car and had the cuffs on before the ugly was able to bounce
off. The legend goes that he even had one side of the cuffs on the ugly
before it hit the side of the Chief's car--an assertion that I would not
doubt enough to lay money against it.

When I asked the Chief about the incident, he told me that it came out of
nowhere and he doesn't know how it happened--it was all natural reaction
from years of being a cop.

I have found that I just don't react anymore in a lot of cases. You learn
to click on/off in a split second so that you tend to be rather blase about
fake attacks most of the time. So now when people punch at me with no intention
of hitting me, I just let them. Even if they are going to hit me without
much force, it isn't worth clicking on for since it takes a lot of effort to
click off. A while back a very homophobic guy I know decided to "attack" me
in an elevator by bearhugging me with my arms to my sides. I just leaned in
and kissed him full on the mouth which has him paralyzed with fear of me now.
He can't figure out whether I'm homosexual or not and is afraid I have the
hots for him. I get a real kick out of his reactions to me now. One suggestion
if you decide on such scare tactics--make sure the guy or girl has
brushed their teeth first--yuck--the guy had read jungle mouth and I think
I washed my face and rinsed my mouth out ten times afterwards--a real ugly.

One thing about not reacting, it may make the person more aggressive since
it might get them feeling that they don't really count or mean much to you.
But then you can feel that nice warm feeling of getting a chance to do a
real technique on someone without holding back. Make sure you thank them
afterwards as you would any practice partner.

Another story: A friend of mine and a female practice partner--both in
karate were walking through Coit Park one night after a seminar. A guy
jumps out with a knife demanding their money. The two friends fall over
laughing their guts out since they had just spent the entire day practicing
anti-knife defenses. The idiot attacker wasn't intelligent enough at that
point to get out of there but just stood there continuing to demand their
money. My friends collected themselves and discussed who got to practice.
My friend decided to be gentlemanly and let the female have the mugger.

Afterwards they were so happy that as they left the fallen mugger, they
paid him for the knife which John decided to put into his collection, and
left a $20 tip in his pocket for all the fun.

About two years ago, I visited some friends in New York City, and
also worked out there. One evening after class, I was taking the subway back
to the place I was staying. Sometime during my ride a homeless person got on,
very agitated. He sat down, muttering, swearing, and jerking around. Moments
later another homeless person entered the car and began to ask for money. As
this person walked by the first homeless person, the agitated one jumped up,
yelling, "You stepped on my foot!" and chased the other homeless person out of
the car. The atmosphere was very tense.

The agitated person then sat down near the exit, two seats from me.
The seats between us were empty. My stop soon came. As the train slowed down,
I got up and went towards the exit, giving the agitated person as wide a berth
as possible.

I passed that person and stood in front of the door. Then I heard a
gasp from the people around me and out of the corner of my eye saw movement
coming towards my head from the left. I ducked and threw up a block at the same
time, turning towards the direction of the movement. A punch glanced off my
left arm, and I came up out of the turn with my right fist cocked. I was
looking straight into his eyes, which suddenly got wide and he started to move
away from me.

At that moment the train stop and the doors opened. I took one step
backward onto the platform. The doors closed in front of me, and the train
pulled away. From when he swung to when I stepped off the train took about
three seconds.

These are not MY stories - one is my student's story, one is my partner's
story, and one is my sensei's story:

A student of ours was going for pizza. In the shop, a guy was bugging her.
she asked him to go away. He followed her to her car. Just after she
she put the pizza on the roof of the car and was unlocking it, he
attempted to grab her. She spun, pushed one of his elbows up, pushed the
other one down; he fell HARD on his rear. She got in the car, asked
herself if she really wanted to run him over, decided against it, drove
away. (When told this story, my Sensei asked, "What about the pizza?"
When told that she remembered to get it off the roof, he replied,"OK,
THEN it's a good story. If she forgot the pizza, not so good." Her time
in training, by the way, was about one year)

My partner was in a food store when someone grabbed him from behind. He
thought, but was not sure, that it might be a friend, joking around. His
wrist was grabbed, so he turned into sankyo. It WAS a friend, so the
sankyo did not go beyond a surpised "Ouch!"

My Sensei was leaving the downtown dojo (BAAD neighborhood) with one of
the seniors. At that time his English was still rather slow. A wino came'
up to the two of them asking for money. The senior told the wino to go
away. The wino tried to cold-cock the senior. Sensei intercepted the
punch aimed at the senior, applied kotegaeshi, and before the man's head
hit the pavement, put his foot out to cushion it, ltting the man and his
head gently to the sidewalk. After ascertaining that he was OK Sensei
senior walked away.

The reason I like these stories is that every one ends appropriately. None
of the responses was exaggerated, and none of the attackers was damaged.
I wish I had stories of my own, but ever since I began training (>sixteen
years ago) people just don't seem to want to attack me ;-)

A nutcase came up behind me with a big hunting knife in a bar. I was
sitting down, my companion said, "Terry, that guy has a knife!" I turned
around, "Do you know what this is?" he said. "Yeah," I said, and I turned
back to my companions. I realized I had to do something very soon. I
stood, turned, my left hand closed on his knife wrist. It was the kind of
grip I had only in combat. My body did a Tenshinnage type movement,
however, the hand went directly to his throat -- not hard -- just enough to
make him realize he was backing up. Because there was another, empty
table, behind him, he touched it and realized he could fall backwards over
it. He then dropped the knife. He went over the table and landed on his
back. He was dazed.

It wasn't exactly like the movement I had practiced in class, but it WAS
the movement. Also, I feel the attacks from behind practice was very
helpful in helping me navigate the space behind me, find the knife wrist,
etc. To tell you the truth, it as a lot like practice.

I once helped out at a seminar at a karate dojo run by friend of
mine. This seminar was intended to expose his students to other martial
arts, and so he had invited people from several different styles to give 2
hour introductory classes. One of the people he invited was an advanced
Aikido practitioner from my club, who then asked me if I would come along
to help out, since at that time I was his favourite throwing dummy.

So, there I was, pretty much a newbie in Aikido, helping teach it
to a class of karateka. Of course, at some point the question of "Would
this work for real" came up. We had been doing basic body shifts,
practicing them against simple straight punches, as a set up to a throw.
Of course, one of the karateka observed, "This is all nice and good
against a single punch, but we always practice combinations. What then?"

Well, My friend was at that time occupied with a bunch of other
students at the other end of the dojo, and so I was stuck having to deal
with it myself. "When in doubt, put it on the mat." The first rule of any
martial art (at least, around where I live). I ask him to come at me with
one of these combinations, so that we can all see what happens. He
attacks, and I relax, forget that he's coming in with another technique,
and respond only to his first punch. Shift, turn, grasp, push, guy goes
flying. "So", I ask, "where was that second punch?"

"I, uh, forgot to throw it after you grabbed me."

"Well, then, I guess that answers our question, doesn't it?". Exit
stage left, at a slow stroll. No matter what happens, that's what you
meant to happen. Rule number two, around here.

So, it can work. It comes down to who knows more, and how
confident they are, and how much they can make the other guy fight their
fight. Just like most other types of conflicts, actually.

Well, I have one story about kote-gaeshi that comes from a self
defence class that I teach. We were doing a simple version of kote-gaeshi,
with myself as the "goon", who would attack the women in the class, so
that they get a feel for doing things for real. Well, one of the students
had learned it a lot faster than I had thought, and applied it a lot
harder and faster than you usually see in regular Aikido classes (where I
study, we usually "ease up" at the end, to allow our partner a chance to
fall cleanly). She, of course, didn't ease up, because I had never thought
to tell her she should. I managed to get about half way into a break fall
when I hit the ground, which just so happened to position the shoulder of
the arm being twisted directly under the rest of my body. My entire weight
came down on it, very hard. It ended up that I couldn't use that arm
effectively for 2 to 3 weeks afterwards.

I can only assume something similar would occur in real life, if
you were to execute the technique at full speed, with the clear intention
of ending the fight right there. Had it been for real, I'm pretty sure I
would've chosen that moment for a strategic retreat. If she let me go,
that is :-).

For many years I taught self defense (not a martial art) in a university and
also to police and police trainees. One day one of those trainees came to me
in a very agitated state. he had taken both an introductory and advanced
course from me and had been quite proficient.

The evening before he had met a good friend's wife while Christmas shopping at
a big suburban mall. The lady was quite close to the end of a pregnancy so
accompany her back to her car and carry her packages to mitigate against any
slipping in snow. As they neared her car a pretty large man stepped out
from behind a van and grabbed the lady, flashed a knife and demanded their
wallets, watches, etc.

My student realized that the man was neither releasing the woman nor making
any attempt to pick up the loot. His "radar" went off just as the mugger
initiated a stab to his chest.

The world slowed down my friend claimed and he remembered many of the alternatives
we had practiced. He opted to attempt a disarming technique he had
learned most similar to what Aikidoka would consider a shionage. As he turned
into the thrust and reversed his body placement he realized that there was a
second mugger standing a few yards behind him. My student "modified" his technique
to bring the back of his attacker's elbow over his shoulder where it
was totally disjointed. The second attacker was discouraged and left.

I relate all of this to point out the purpose of my students agitation - he
was remorseful that he had so badly damaged his attacker and wanted my
opinion as to the appropriateness of his response.

What I told him I honestly believed at the time - and still do. I would have
killed the knife wielder in his situation - PROBABLY. And the 'probably'
is my point in this posting.

I know techniques that in that situation would have likely brought the knife
into the attackers throat or body - I think I would have used them.

I would NOT have, however, broken the guys arm - which caused him to lose
consciousness, I might add - and THEN gone back and stabbed him with his
own knife.

I would have understood the teacher in the hypothetical example using
a technique that was likely to be lethal (though sometimes they aren't)
and killing the one attacker - or even ALL the attackers - DURING combat.

To return to a disabled opponent and fatally dispatch them is - to me -
unethical - I am certain it is illegal - but perhaps more importantly - to
me - is that it totally lacks honor. It is a cowardly deed - not an act of
justice. I honestly don't think I could justify taking a life under those
specific terms.

Thanks for bearing with me on this one. I have pondered this example for many
years since it was so dramatic for me and for my friend.

One of the odd jobs I worked at while becoming a teacher was a
nighttime gas station attendant. One night a large man with gang
memorabilia all about him drove his Harley into the service area
as if to take it over, parked in front of the pumps, strode inside,
grabbed a can of wax, returned to his machine, which now blocked
anyone from getting gas, and began to polish the already gleaming
metal. I heard the manager and assistant manager begin to fume to
each other, each remark inciting a more fiery response. I began to
worry about the almost certain conflict between thses three big men.
I went out to the biker. "Irimi, (entering)", I said to myself.
To him I said with sincere appreciation, "That's a beautiful bike...
What year is it? ... Did you rebuild it yourself?" The biker's features
melted into a soft, pleased expression. "Now tenkan (turning)", I
thought, watching his hands. I told him the manager was upset and
could he please pay for the wax and polish his bike over there.
"That's cool", he said, and did.
The manager came over and looked at me accusingly. "Hey, how come
the littlest guy here can make that guy do what he's supposed to?
You must know something."

When I was in high school a fellow attacked me in a theater one night
with a knife. A powerful kiai and quickly raised hand on my part caused
him to stop the arm swing halfway through. He was so embarrassed he simply
walked away (much to my surprise and happiness).

I like each of the following "real life" stories for different reasons.

Told to me by the student who witnesss it:
Maruyama Sensei and a senior student were leaving the downtown Philly
dojo (in a "rough" neighborhood) an hour after class was over. A man,
apparently drunk, approached them from a doorway and demanded money. The
senior student told the man to go away (Maruyama Sensei's English was
not that great then). The man threw a punch at the senior student. The
senior student reports that Maruyama Sensei flashed in between them, took
the man's arm into kote gaeshi, then put his foot out to cushion the man's
head from hitting the sidewalk. After checking that the man was unharmed,
the two of them went on their way.

(Yes, there are EFFECTIVE, and non-damaging WAYS TO EXECUTE techniques
which can also be, in other variations, effective and damaging, or (sad,
but true) damaging and not particularly effective. Yes,I have a story
about the last.)

A former student of mine, after six months of twice a week training,
was getting a pizza. In the shop a young man made a pass ar her. She rejected
his offer to go with him in his car. She returned to her car, put the
pizza on the roof, and began to put her keys in the lock. Out of the corner
of her eye she saw the young man coming up behind her, and turned in time
to see him try to grab her neck? bear hug? - she wasn't sure. She got
her hands under his elbows and pushed him backwards hard enough for him
to fall on his rear end. She recovered the pizza, got in the car and,
after considering whether she wanted to run him over, decided no, and
drove home. Maruyama Sensei later said that the only reason the story
is a good one is bevcause she remembered to get the pizza off the roof
of the car.

(Even beginners can execute good judgement, especially if they are shown
a RANGE of variations on a technique from joint-mangling & head-smashing,
to minimum balance-tipping and mild joint leveraging. All of our students
learn how to prevent someone from taking too hard a fall, even to the
extent of saving uke from uke's own falling mistakes.)

I kind of like the idea of joining in Aikido as applied to level of
stress on uke. Even in the dojo, the intensity of keiko differs depending
upon the uke's commitment in attack. The more committed the attack, the
faster and harder the technique application. This results not from the
intent of the nage but from the joining between uke and nage. The resulting
forces themselves create the strength of technique. If nage does not join
with uke well, then the waza could end up being to weak for the attack
and a good flowing technique cannot be achieved. Uke will probably be
left standing there wondering what nage will try to do next, or uke will
have run right past (or through) nage. On the other side, if nage pushes
the technique, forcing it to work, then uke either gets hurt or does a
kaeshi waza or ends up going limp.

In the street, the same joining concept applies. If the person starts
pushing and shoving, not much is required other than a yonkyo or sankyo.
A person attacks strongly with a bottle, a koshinage would work quite
well since it joins and flows with the attack. Any resulting injuries
to the attacker are simply the result of the force of their attack. A
person pulls a gun, shoot them first. I doubt if any of us are at the
level that we can dodge the bullets like O
Sensei (join not only the attacking person but the attacking bullets
as well)! We can only respond at the level that we are capable of.

Anyways, I find Aikido much more useful for daily living rather than
in its martial aspects. Tenkan and Irimi movements are very useful for
dodging cars on Hong Kong streets and sidewalks (cars have right-of-way
here). Furikaburi is great for opening large swinging doors and you need
to know how to extend your whole body to push you way through the Mass
Transit Railway (MTR) crowds. Hanmi is very useful for standing in the
MTR when you can't hold on to anything. Iriminage is excellent for carrying
home cases of beer from the store. And koshinage for carrying a tired
child works too. The concepts of joining and leading work well in the
classroom as well as in departmental and faculty politics. The etiquette
of budo is just proper for business in and around Hong Kong. Aikido doesn't
stop when you leave the dojo. It is probably more important outside. I
must admit, most of the business deals I am now involved in arose out
of my Aikido contacts.

Furthermore, life-and-death in a martial sense (fighting) is nothing
compared to the political battles fought in the political parties, businesses,
and educational institutions. In a fight, all you can lose is your life.
In real life, you can lose your reputation, your self-respect, the respect
of others, your business, your family--everything--including your life!
If you keep yourself always "aware" of your martial surroundings and forget
the political, business, and personal surroundings, you are likely to
be blindsided. That is partly what etiquette is all about. Etiquette considers
not only politeness but the ideas of power, power exchange, responsibilities,
understandings of relationships, care for others, and care for yourself.

Now, if you try to be aware of all of these things all the time, you
end up becoming psychotic. That is what training and etiquette allow you
to do. Training provides good habits and patterns of behavior which allow
you to forget about thinking about certain things--you will react correctly
naturally. Etiquette is a set of heuristics which allows us to behave
correctly (as agreed upon by the rest of your social group) without thinking
about how to behave. If you can have training in the martial arts and
etiquette, you have a lot less cluttering your mind and you can think
about more important things--you can begin to think strategically.

I just read a story (I think it was on the martial-arts mailing list)
about a Sensei throwing a man in such a way as to not harm his attacker.
But, if the attacker was really intent on attacking for some reason of
his own, why didn't he just get up and attack again?

A friend of mine has a story along those lines. He was attacked by a
guy, and threw the guy with a hip throw (ogoshi), settling him gently
onto the ground. The guy got up and attacked him again. Same throw. Same
response. In total, he threw the guy 5 times nicely. The 6th time, he
planted him, and the guy didn't get up too quickly. Moral of the story:
some people just don't learn. Moral of the story II: if the guy had pulled
out a gun after the first throw, the encounter could have had a much less
pleasant ending. Being gentle on in the face of a street assault is a
very high-risk proposition.